The thrill of ebay chicken

B_Hickboy

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That twinge in your intestines
I buy a lot of stuff off of ebay, but I never bid until the last two minutes of an auction. When I'm watching an item and somebody places a bid that's higher than what I intended to pay for the item, I start running the bid up in the smallest increments that ebay will allow, until I either reach a price that I think is outrageous and am scared to continue, or have outbid the other guy by the minimum increment. I have gotten burned twice on relatively small purchases by doing this, but I usually lose the auction, having forced the competing bidder to pay way more for the item. I was watching a pair of amplifiers all week, and some guy came in and bid $124 for them. I have run the price up to $192.50 and am still losing. Making him pay almost $70 more than he set out to pay is almost as good as winning the auction.

Am I the only sicko here who feels that way? :biggrin1:
 

kepper

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I have never purchased anything on ebay but I have sold well over 800 items. Thanks for helping to increase my wealth! LOL
 

willow78

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I only buy CDs and DVDs on eBay - I prefer the buy now option wherever possible. But I find most of the stuff I want is overseas so I often have to stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. for auctions. I always leave my bidding until the very last minute. My taste in music is so unpopular that 99% of the time no-one else bids but I still like to 'hold back' and not show my hand too early.

(on a side note, I find it's the stuff I expect to be the most unpopular, is the stuff that gets the biggest bidding war....)

I always go overboard in my bidding, bidding WAAAAAY more than I intended but luckily I go so high at the last minute that the other bidders can't catch up in time. So even though I win, I still manage to fall short of my ridiculous maximum. This method helps me cope if I'm outbid and I lose, because I can just tell myself that I have saved myself a lot of money by not winning.

I only bid on things I want - I don't do it just to make others pay more. Knowing my luck, they probably wouldn't outbid me and I'd end up spending a fortune on stuff I didn't even want.

But, like I said, I prefer the 'Buy Now' option where possible - but only if I think it's a reasonable amount.

(on another side note, several eBay sellers are pissed off with me at the moment because I've 'bought' a shitload of stuff that I don't have the money to actually pay for - it'll be another month or so before I can pay it all off! I really should do something about my terrible eBay buying habits.....)
 
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kenny233

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I use ebay a good bit, and I've gotten some good deals. I still can't believe the price people will pay for an item sometimes; especially a used one. I agree, it is a satisfying feeling knowing that I contributed to their excessive winning cost.